


Amulet

by VerdantMoth



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Bewitched Jewelry, Character Death, Curses, F/M, Guilt, M/M, Magic, spells
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-13
Updated: 2018-10-13
Packaged: 2019-08-23 18:00:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16623764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VerdantMoth/pseuds/VerdantMoth
Summary: “Guinevere?” He holds her in his arms, traces the softness of her cheeks with his fingers. “I didn’t know.”





	Amulet

 

Arthur is instinct guided, purpose driven. He knows, deep in his core, he must  _ do this.  _ He must end this evil, must purge his kingdom. His sword is heavy in his hands, his skin burning with fever. His eyes can see nothing but the glow that guides him towards Camelot’s destruction. He’d prayed, last night, had spent all his time beneath the moon with his knees pressed to the stone. The gods had spoken, had whispered in his ears. They promised him glory, for  _ just one task. _

He’d begged them for anything else, for any other quest, but the gods were loud and the wind ripped at his chest, stole the breath from his ribs. Sweat drips beneath his collar, his hair hangs in his eyes.The hilt of his sword is too hot, but he cannot let it go. He feels pulled towards the lower town, towards a cottage he should remember. It smells familiar, beyond the sweat of a hard days work.

Something shatters, pottery, a plate perhaps. “Arthur!” The voice is light, airy, brimming with shock and amusement.

He tries to speak but his mouth is dry and his tongue heavy. Everything in him pulses, his heart beats with singular intent. He breathes in, and when he exhales he swings his sword.

Arthur knows the feeling of leather and armor giving beneath the weight of his sword and this is not it. It sinks in to flesh, too warm, too soft, too giving. It sinks like a knife into butter, and he knows he has struck the belly.

The air around him is suddenly chilled and the morning quiet, all the voices screaming at him blinking out in one heavy sigh. “Arthur,” she whispers, her voice heavy as he sinks to his knees. The amulet given to him in the marketplace clatters to the floor.

“Guinevere?” He holds her in his arms, traces the softness of her cheeks with his fingers. “I didn’t know.”

He can’t explain it to her, the heavy weight that brought him here. He can’t tell her of the eternal night that blacked his vision. Merlin finds him there later, gathers him in his arms and kisses his temples, his nose, rocks him in his arms. “You couldn’t have known, love.”

Arthur grips her body, cool despite the heat of the day. “You should have.” Merlin knows he doesn’t mean it, not really.

  
  



End file.
